January 2010 Issue

A Modern-Day Miracle Worker

André Bessette seemed an unlikely candidate, but he was God's own choice.

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Late one evening, a young man was hobbling on crutches down a Montreal city street. A car pulled up alongside him, and a middle-aged passenger in a religious habit leaned his head out of the window. "What happened to you?" he asked.

The young man explained that he had been injured in an accident. In a firm voice, his questioner replied, “Walk! Let go of your crutches and walk!” No way could he do that, said the young man. But the older man insisted. “I said, let go of your crutches and walk!”

This time, somehow reassured by the stranger’s confidence, the young man let the crutches fall. Amazed, he discovered he could walk without any trouble. “I know you are not the Good God,” he shouted as the car moved away, “but you must be someone great!”

The mysterious passenger was André Bessette, a brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross (CSC), and being thought “someone great” was the last thing he ever sought. Although he became known the world over as a miracle worker, he…

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